Work Ethic

Let me say
I’ll take no more rest days

Let me break down
Reacquaint myself with scabbed knees
The busted knuckles and bloody teeth
Of my sharp-edged youth

Let me fall apart
Indulge in turning circles
A mind dizzy and heat-stroked
Running alien mathematics

Let me say
I’m done with dozing

Let me overthrow
The weights around my wrists
Flip the tables where
I’ve nodded off mid-word

Let me push back
The lazy ooze of good-enoughs
Shot through with hesitation
Fear of saying what I mean

Let me say
Today I work

Let me do it for good reason
Burnt up from lighting fires
Under this tired old ass
Turning circles into spirals

Let me feel the hurts
Cracking shins against deadlines
Dying of something better
Than overstaying my welcome

I’ll take no more rest days
I’m done with dozing
Today I work

(“Work Ethic” cross-posted to Tumblr)

Published by Joyce Sully

Joyce Sully believes in magic and dragons and ghosts, but is not convinced her next-door neighbors are real. So she writes stories. Really, what else could she do?